Who Heals the Healer?
by Batman'sBeauty18
Summary: Caron had REALLY bad day. Carson angst, with Shep. whump and a little Ronon whump. Oneshot probably. CarsonLaura ship.


**ALERT: This is a revised version. You probably won't notice the change, but orange juice was switched to apple juice. Several reviewers brought it to my attention that as it was, Rodney would be dead because of his citrus allergy. I am banging my head on my desk for not realizing that sooner -blushes-. Thank you for everyone who pointed that out! **

**A/N: This is something that was inspired by a documentary about medical personnel in Iraq. There was a scene where one of workers was cleaning blood from a gurney, and I just ran with that. It ended up being a little C&C (Carson and Cadman) fluff. And of course, it has Shep and Rodney whump because thats a must, but I also had to include Ronon whump because its so rare. Hope you like! I'm putting it as finished, but I might add another chapter later on if my plot bunny comes back.**

**Summary: After a particularly trying day, Carson is hurting. Who heals the healer? Laura, of course. **

**Spoilers: Duet...that kiss still makes me laugh!**

**Warnings: Sadness**

**Disclaimer: not mine.**

It's late and he knows that Laura is probably back in their room waiting for him, but he can't tear himself away. He continues the repetitive motion of cleaning up the blood from the floor, the gurney, the walls, everywhere. It's everywhere. Carson's never been squeamish about blood, after all he's up to his elbows in it every day, but this is different. He knows this blood, knows whose bodies it came from, and knows how close they both came to dying. So e pushes the mop over the floor, watching as the blood is soaked up. The night clean-up crew usually does this, but tonight Carson feels like he has to, and more then that he wants to.

Carson always knew when SGA-1 was off world, and always knew when they were due back. As soon as they were overdue he put a medical team on standby and had the O.R. prepped. The first time he had done this everyone had grumbled about a waste of time and efforts. They had shut up when John had walked into the infirmary with a sheepish smile and a partially severed hand. A four-hour surgery had reattached the hand with no loss of motion, and after that his people always automatically prepped the O.R. and had at least one other doctor on standby as soon as Sheppard's team was overdue.

But today, it almost hadn't mattered. SGA-1 had come back 9 hours overdue, and tumbled through the gate bloodied and bruised. Elizabeth had sent in Major Lorne and the cavalry to bring them back, which they did. Teyla had a couple of cracked and broken ribs, Rodney had a concussion when the slavers who had captured them had hit him especially hard in and effort to get him to shut up. Ronon had walked through the gate apparently not that much worse for the wear, except for a few bloody gashes on his arms. Ronon had an unconscious John slung over his back in a fireman's carry, and Carson barely had time to marvel at the pilot's luck before putting him on a stretcher and wheeling him down to the infirmary. For once it wasn't a battle to get the rest of them to follow.

Carson immediately diagnosed John's internal bleeding and punctured lung, and had gotten him into surgery to repair the damage. John had coded once in the O.R. and for a second Carson actually thought he might lose him. In the end he had pulled through, and Cason was glad he had good news to give his team. It less then a minute after he had given Teyla, Rodney, Ronon, and Weir the positive news that he heard them shout his name, Teyla's normally unflappable voice rising in barely controlled panic. He turned around to find Ronon collapsed on the floor.

A quick scan showed massive hemorrhaging in his brain, and Carson mentally kicked himself for not running more scans, even though Ronon had said he felt fine. The O.R. had hurriedly been prepped, but as Carson had snapped on his gloves, he could still see where the Colonel's blood had stained the walls. With Ronon too, it had been close but thanks in no small part to luck the former runner had pulled through. He had been bone weary as he once again approached Teyla, Rodney, and Weir and told them the news. He had taken one look at the lot and ordered each of them, with the exception of Elizabeth, to find a gurney. Acting on intuition, he quickly checked Rodney's blood sugar, not surprised to find it way below normal. After supervising Rodney's intake of apple juice, and checking his blood sugar again, he went to make sure Teyla was comfortable. Satisfied that everything was well, he had wandered back to his officer, passing the overused O.R.

He wasn't exactly sure what made him grab a mop and bucket and start cleaning the floors, but he found comfort in the repetitive motions, The cleaning crew had been surprised when they walked in only to find their boss, the C.M.O. of the entire expedition, doing their jobs for them. He had silently waved them away, and after a moment they had obeyed.

Carson spent hours cleaning. He didn't enjoy doing it, but he couldn't make himself stop. Finally, the whole room was clean and he just sank down against a wall, bringing his knees up to his chest. He let out a sigh and started to shake, trembling slightly. In the back of his mind, that voice that could always calmly diagnose a patient even when Carson himself was at a loss for words by the horrors he saw, rang true. _Lack of sleep, low blood sugar, needs rest and food_, it said now, and Carson knew that he was diagnosing himself. She had already been working for 24 hours, trying to patch up a group of marines that had come back from a run-in with some rowdy, drunken natives when SGA-1 had come back. He knew he should get up, eat something, then go to sleep but couldn't make himself move. They had come so close to losing two members, to valued lives, today that it had shaken the normally unflappable doctor.

John, who he had seen tortured, who he had seen die, who he had heard scream and yell and panic, Carson had watched the monitor as a flat line slowly crept across.

Ronon, who Carson had liberated not once, but twice, who Carson had befriended and healed, and hurt, had bled out into his brain due to Carson actually believing Ronon would tell him if he was unwell.

He was so lost in his own head that he didn't hear Laura until her hand was on his arm. He let her pull him up, let her lead him to their room, and let her take care of him. After all, when the day was done and Carson had taken care of all of Atlantis, he still needed someone to take care of him. And Laura knew that the next time she went off world and was injured, he would be there taking care of her.


End file.
